Just because it's supposed to be funny doesn't make it any less smug. Why everything just seems so much better in Canada! So correct!

This image most people seem to have of modest, understated, polite Canadians is a complete myth. This video's attitude is by far the most common one I've experienced, and I've now personally known dozens of Canadians. Passive agressive, self-righteous, and just as blindly patriotic as the most right-wing Americans they all think we are. Every single one I've known in the past 8 years is absolutely drunk on pride for their country. Or maybe it's because the beer is stronger up there. Oh wait, that's a complete myth too! Doesn't stop them from *constantly* saying so though.

Gimme a break. The US has been the keystone of the Canadian economy for at least 100 years. You think somehow ours will go south while yours emerges unscathed? You're going right down with us.

Well, you certainly showed them how to reject blind patriotic smug propaganda.

And again, xy1331, you show at least Canadians have something you US Reps don't have: a sense of humour.

Keep in mind, this little bit was produced by an AMERICAN publication. Is it still Canadian propaganda if Canadians don't produce it? It's not so much smugness, more like the inability to resist the urge to laugh. If your enighbour had the hilarity going on in their government you'd laugh, too.

xy1331: did you have a point?

With respect to the economies, there are levels of recession and depression. But then there's this:

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Sorry, can't help being a big smug...

*sigh*

Buddy, Canadians say that crap because a small country (in population, at least) always develops a complex about a neighbouring large country. This is true of Portugal viz. Spain, Japan viz. China, etc. America also has a number of ridiculous myths, but as a large country, they're mostly about itself. "We're the greatest country in the world!" is about as referential as they get. Canadian myths, by contrast, are mostly comparative.

People mostly cheer and jeer about the things they're good at, and minimize the importance of the things they're not good at. Patriotism is a huge American meme, and not atypically, you're offended because other people dare to be patriotic about their own countries. Good Lord, that attitude looks as ridiculous on you as their patriotism looks to you.

You're quite right about the economy, of course. Mind you, being proud or smug about the fact is more than a little petty. The errors (lunacy, even) of a handful of rich morons in America dragging people down around the globe (including their own country) is not something to be proud of, even if it implies the central importance of the American economy.

Note that the undisputed greatness of America does not reflect directly on you, positively or negatively. You are not better or worse than anyone else in the world because of where you're from. You are not automatically morally superior to a Canadian (or an Iraqi, for that matter). Better to concentrate on your own accomplishments than to sit under the glory umbrella of the people who have gone before you.

This video was meant to be funny, and it is. Leave it at that, for God's sake.

xy1331:

Gimme a break. The US has been the keystone of the Canadian economy for at least 100 years. You think somehow ours will go south while yours emerges unscathed? You're going right down with us.

FAIL.

"IMF sees Canada leading developed world Canada will outperform other well-off countries but can't escape a global slowdown as the world works through "the most dangerous shock in mature financial markets since the 1930s," the International Monetary Fund says.

The United States is likely already in a recession which will extend through the first quarter of 2009, the IMF said in its World Economic Outlook released today."

Um, going from a growth rate of 2.7 to one of 0.7? Yeah, Canada's doing great, completely unscathed...

I understand this video is supposed to be funny. Was it really made my Americans though? That would be strange and if so I really don't know what to think since I assume stuff like this would have to come from Canada. But now that we're on the topic anyway I've known way too many Canadians who use jokes as their tool to rip into Americans. You ever see This Hour Has 22 Minutes? That was supposed to be funny and it was the shrillest comedy show I've ever seen.

In no way am I a Republican and in no way am I flag-waving ultra-patriot. I voted for Democrats in every election except 1996 when I voted for Nader (when it didn't matter at least). I do like the US for all its faults but I don't go around telling anyone that. Canadians, on the other hand, CONSTANTLY tell me how great their country is. Every single one I've ever known without fail. It doesn't even matter what you're talking about, inevitably it comes around to how much better Canada is. And the poster above is absolutely right, it's nothing more than an inferiority complex. Doesn't make it any less pathetic or annoying though. I really just wish they'd realize that whining about the world not noticing how great Canada is just makes them look even smaller.

If anyone's curious to know how I got this way (and believe me there's nothing funnier to most people than saying Canadians really get on your nerves) just spend a couple years living in Bermuda.

I am a Canadian, but I don't think I'm particularly smug. I thought the spot was funny but I can tell you it wasn't created in Canada. Our humour is more like the British than the US.

xy1331, all you're really communicating is that you are offended when people think that their country is better than yours. You clearly have the same problem. That you believe that you can generalize about an entire nation of people based on experiences with tourists that you've met in Bermuda makes me shudder.

If you honestly believe that your experiences have entitled you to a narrow and largely indefensible point of view, then of course that's your privilege. I am equally dismayed that people assume that you're a Republican, as if the attitudes that you subscribe to are the preserve of political/social conservatives.

That the Canadians you've met feel the need to trumpet the perceived virtues of their country may have as much to do with the things you have said to them as with their attitudes. No one likes a smarmy ultrapatriot, whatever country they come from. These Canadians you describe would seem to fit the bill, but I suspect that they're not the only ones. Their preaching is surely grounded in the very complex you describe, but so, too, is your umbrage.

Quite right about This Hour Has 22 Minutes, though. That show, like most comedy shows of its kind, appeals to underlying fears and hatreds. Dreadful stuff.

I know I'm late to the game here, but I have to mention that I don't think Canadians sew maple leaf and flag patches into their backpacks or set their cell phone rings to "Oh, Canada!" when overseas because of xy1331's umbrage.

lisaz:

I did not mean to imply that xy1331's umbrage was a causal agent in anything other than the content of his post. I believe you'll find that I was implying that he was offended by their hysterical flag-waving because, at heart, he is himself an hysterical flag-waver (and for the same reasons). Over-identification with a group usually implies that one wants to arrogate the perceived virtues of that group to oneself.